What does Assembla do?
Assembla provides tools and services for building software quickly using global teams.

Is the service free?
Yes, the online service is free for individuals and small groups. We make money when we have larger groups that need premium tools, portfolios, and private servers.

500MB of SVN for free…

I have been using Subversion for project work for some time now, and it seems that most agree that it is the best Open Source solution available. I have enjoyed the use of SVN provided by clients or employers, but only recently started considering replacing my old local VSS server with a web-enabled SVN server of my own. My motivation is to get code that I own off-site and have some redundancy along with improved accessibility. I am also interested leveraging the benefits of the continual development and refinement of SVN as an Open Source project. TortoiseSVN is a good example of that.

I started by researching the requirements for installing SVN server. Installation on a local Windows host seemed doable, but I wanted to install it on my web server. Since my host doesn’t support applications, I’m on my own. I don’t even know what OS the server is running. From what I’ve read, installing SVN on a site would be a chore. Plus it would compete for space with site content. An alternative would be to pay for a specialized SVN hosting service. Hard to justify the continual overhead for that.

So I Googled for free SVN. One result stood out as promising: Assembla. They give away a 500mb SVN account with unlimited users and an integrated bug tracking setup (Trac). For the quick, small projects I am looking to use it for, I can accept the risk that Assembla flakes out as a business entity. Worst case I will still have my latest build on my local. Assembla’s business model seems pretty sound to me anyway - a successful freelance coder will eventuallly need more space if they get cosy using the free service and will become a paying customer.

Here aro some of the Assembla tools:

Subversion

Using a Wiki as a project management tool is something that I have been thinking over quite alot recently.

But there is some nagging doubt in my head. Perhaps its because it requires self discipline to be able to work it properly, or that it we could be doing it better.

Wikis have some real advantages for project management:

• A lot are free, with only hosting costs to contend with
• Open access which can be restricted with ACLs
• Anyone can view, edit and update at anytime. Easily.
• With the proper infrastructure can easily break geographical boundaries.
• Built in version control
• Great for documentation
• Open
• Can be used as a document repository
• Inbuilt document linking can build documentation as detailed or sparse as needed
• Project information can be kept linked to technical information
• Reduces the use of email.

The main feature of using Wiki as a project management tool is the ability to SEARCH. This means that you can easily search for changes that were made to a certain document and see what to do with the seach results.

In the mean while I will start testing the Wiki's software available as an open source and will update this post as I go along.

Just for the fun of it - here are some project management quotations:

• "A badly planned project will take three times longer than expected - a well planned project only twice as long as expected."
• "A minute saved at the start is just as effective as one saved at the end."
• "A problem shared is a buck passed."
• "A project is one small step for the project sponsor, one giant leap for the project manager."
• "A two year project will take three years, a three year project will never finish "
• "All project managers face problems on Monday mornings - good project managers are working on next Monday's problems."
• "Any project can be estimated accurately (once it's completed)."
• "Anything that can be changed will be changed until there is no time left to change anything."
• "Everyone asks for a strong project manager - when they get him they don't want him."
• "Fast - cheap - good: you can have any two."
• "For a project manager overruns are as certain as death and taxes."
• "God had a huge project and he got it in 7 days done."
• "Good project management is not so much knowing what to do and when, as knowing what excuses to give and when."
• "Good project managers admit mistakes: that's why you so rarely meet a good project manager."
• "Good project managers know when not to manage a project."
• "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant."
• "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck."
• "If there is a 50% chance of something going wrong then 9 times out of 10 it will."
• "Managing IT people is like herding cats."
• "Metrics are learned men's excuses."
• "Murphy, O'Malley, Sod and Parkinson are alive and well - and working on your project."
• "Never underestimate the ability of senior management to buy a bad idea and fail to buy a good idea."
• "No plan ever survived contact with the enemy."
• "No project has ever finished on time, within budget, to requirement - yours won't be the first to."
• "Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn't have to do it."
• ""Planning is an unnatural process, doing something is much more fun."
• "Planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal."
• "Quantitative project management is for predicting cost and schedule overruns well in advance."
• "The first 90% of a project takes 90% of the time the last 10% takes the other 90%."
• "The most valuable and least used word in a project manager's vocabulary is "NO"."
• "The nice thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression."
• "There are no good project managers - only lucky ones."
• "Too few people on a project can't solve the problems - too many create more problems than they solve."
• "Users get the systems they deserve."
• "Warning: dates in the calendar are closer than you think."
• "Work expands to fill the time available for its completion - Parkinson's law."
• "You can build a reputation on what you're going to do."
• "Project management with lot of documents is not project management
• "I love deadlines, I especially like the SWOOSHING sound they make as they fly past"